Latest from Cheers

Don Kavanagh: My cup bubbles over

Don Kavanagh tastes oodles of sparklies and finds only a few that please his palate.

Don Kavanagh: That rare old mountain dew

A pureness within Irish whiskey is enough to warm any heart, says Don Kavanagh.

Starting from Xero: In the cloud

Don Kavanagh: Blessed by fans' invasion

Taking to the stands leaves with a taste for more rugby hysteria.

Don Kavanagh: Shout, shout, let it all out ...

Don't be shy to buy a round, lest your mates don't forget it, warns Don Kavanagh.

Don Kavanagh: Sherry not just for knitters

A home away from home

I find myself in the strange position, at the moment, of feeling vaguely homesick for a place that isn't really my home.

Rebirth and renewal - Renaissance

It had been a while since I'd tried any Renaissance beers, until I was prompted to do so by the results of a recent brewing competition in Australia.

Out of the black

The Christchurch earthquake is the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to small tragedies.

Joining in the pro-session

There is nothing I like more than a decent session.

Banishing the ghosts of yesteryear

We've all got one. In each of our psyches there lies an awful memory indelibly associated with a drink. This memory has prevented us from ever going near that drink again and even the smell of it is enough to send us fleeing from the room.

A woman's work is never done

Brewing. It's a typically blokey thing: it involves a combination of light engineering and biochemistry, involves using tools and the end product is beer, so it's understandable it tends to be associated with men.

Large measures of small tragedies

Of all the small tragedies that followed the big one in Christchurch, perhaps one of the most keenly felt losses for the hospitality trade was the cancellation of Dramfest.

The great lost grape

I was at a tasting recently when someone stood to ask me a question. In fact, she wanted to ask me three questions, but being the economical type of guy I am, I managed to give her just one answer.

Black is black - or is it?

There's a perception that beer is colour-coded for easy reference, and to a certain extent it is.

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor

They say there are two constants in life, but really there are three: death, taxes and the fact that everyone has had a bad experience with tequila at some stage.

The Americans are coming

There was a time when American beer was a byword for tasteless, watery, bland rubbish. How things have changed.

It's the luck of the Irish to create fine whiskey

I looked at the calendar the other day and was shocked to see that it's almost St Patrick's Day.